For Retribution
Again…
Was she dying? Just like before?
Morgana lacked the strength to lift her blood-soaked body, yet she was seized by a strange sense of déjà vu. She felt she had to uncover exactly why this thought had surfaced.
Something similar had happened once before…
When was it?
A figure approached the girl whose eyes were half-closed from deep wounds.
Ah, yes. She remembered.
As a child, Morgana had once been attacked in a carriage in much the same way. Her ever-gentle nursemaid had been dragged out and cut down with a blade. The carriage was set ablaze. Terrified, Morgana had fled and fallen from a cliff…
“Lady Marietta! No!”
The nursemaid’s final scream.
My name! I was never Morgana or Morgan le Fay. The nursemaid always called me the lovely Marietta!
The kind-hearted nursemaid who had used a middle name because she dared not speak the noble name aloud.
The nursemaid was dead! So were the maids who had cared for her!
Just as Morgana grasped a fragment of her past, the approaching figure seized her by the ear and yanked hard. The grip was vicious, and a familiar voice rang out.
“Farewell, my unfortunate friend Morgana. Ah… no, Tiana Marietta Klein.”
The precious memories she had barely grasped slipped away at her friend’s cruel words.
In an instant, she was no longer a noble daughter but once again the lowly Morgana, cast back into the Forest of Ignorance.
Dotricia…?
She could not believe it.
Why would you call me by that name?
You are the real Tiana Marietta Klein, aren’t you…?
She lacked the strength to frown at the contradictory memories. Only the rapidly cooling blood in her veins allowed a belated realization to form.
I was the real one, not Dotricia. Ha… haha… While I lost my memories and played the role of Eina, my place was stolen. Does that even make sense?
The victorious woman chuckled and whispered a terrifying secret.
“Well, don’t feel too wronged. Do you know how much I had to do to live as the Klein daughter? I had to eliminate my old family and anyone who might uncover the secret. It was exhausting.”
Eliminate… You mean you killed them?
“Today is the day I remove the most dangerous threat—you. From now on, I’ll celebrate this day every year as my new birthday. Heh.”
Dotricia’s voice had always been this cunning…?
She could not even shed tears at the cruel reality. It was already too late.
The blood that had been flowing through Morgana’s body soon stilled. Dotricia shoved the lifeless corpse aside.
The body, abandoned on the ground, was soon burned at the mercenaries’ signal.
“Hohohoho!”
Finally, finally!
Dot—the false Tiana—felt as though she might die of joy, certain that all her worries were over.
A massive ancient dragon had recently covered the sky during its attack on the ducal residence, terrifying her, yet that matter had also been resolved. The ducal knights had fought with everything they had, and the dragon had collapsed without warning—before anyone could even request aid from the Magic Tower or the imperial palace.
Therefore, the dead dragon belonged solely to the Klein family!
The dragon’s enormous corpse would soon be dissected piece by piece, bringing enormous wealth to the Klein ducal house.
With that fortune, the duke and duchess, who were already infatuated with Dot, would surely shower her with new dresses and jewels—and perhaps even arrange a respectable engagement.
If possible, with Crown Prince Silas, who had broken off his engagement with Manuela de Latsel and rarely appeared in society…!
Good. She would act cute around her supportive brother Morris and make sure the marriage talk came up.
Who in this world would ever guess? That I, who endured every hardship to seize this noble fate, would become the empress of the empire. The one and only great position on the entire continent—I will rise to it! Others may become queens at best, but I will be empress!
Her greed knew no bounds. Overjoyed, Dot wrapped herself in the sheets the moment she entered the ducal residence and kicked her legs wildly in the air.
Bang, bang! With each kick, she imagined the sound transforming into the celebratory fireworks of her wedding to the crown prince, and eventually drifted off to sleep.
When Dot, who had slept soundly, opened her eyes and rose refreshed, everything had truly changed.
Time, space, and her circumstances.
Exactly two years earlier.
She had been sent back to Grace Monastery, where no one yet knew Morgana’s secret birth.
“Ah…”
A shallow sigh escaped Morgana’s lips, which had stopped breathing.
Her clear eyes, which she had thought would never open again, fluttered open. After staring blankly for a while, she ran to the mirror and looked at her reflection.
The face staring back was smooth and unblemished—the face of the girl who had never known the hardships of an Eina’s life.
An innocent, naive girl.
“The pendant!”
Remembering something, Morgana checked the ruby pendant hanging around her neck.
The necklace, which had strangely become crude at some point, now radiated the same noble aura as before.
More than surprise or shock, Morgana felt only emptiness at everything that had happened.
Ha… haha…
After struggling with all her might and living desperately, the result had been a horrific death.
Before she could even regret those agonizing times, she had simply been sent back to the past.
She had no memories of her childhood.
She had grown up well at Grace Monastery after being sent there with a head injury, until she met the Klein Duke who had received a divine oracle.
He believed the oracle that he would find his lost daughter within a few years and wanted to prepare the position of daughter in advance.
And in the social circles of the Arkan Empire, there existed the “Eina” system.
It was a role that combined friend, lady’s maid, and tutor for the daughters of high-ranking nobles. The duke intended to use an Eina to fill the absence of his nonexistent daughter first.
When the real daughter eventually returned, the Eina, already familiar with society, would pave the way for her.
She would assist at the first debutante ball, help build rapport with partners, inform her about which noblewomen and young ladies liked or disliked what, and kindly introduce fine gentlemen and knights.
Sometimes, the role of a peer could be more effective than what ten adults could provide.
Since an Eina could be a low-ranking noble or even a commoner, Morgana from the monastery had been chosen.
The Klein Duke could naturally have brought the daughter of a viscount, yet he had deliberately chosen Morgana, whom he had never met, because he had many expectations.
More than simply filling the void left by his missing daughter, it meant she had to be a perfect textbook doll twenty-four hours a day.
“Every action you take and every word you speak will become the footsteps of your future mistress, the Klein daughter. Do not let your guard down and behave properly, understood?”
“Yes.”
Neither Morgana nor the duke had known at the time that this was a meeting with her real father.
That was why Morgana had never thought to show the ruby pendant and silk robe she had brought with her from the time she lost her memories.
Only the abbess Beryl, her daughter Priestess Cheryl, and Morgana’s friend Dotricia had known that story.
When it was decided that Morgana would go to the Klein ducal residence, Dot had been so envious that she even said resentful words.
She had claimed she truly could not understand why Morgana had been chosen.
Now that she thought about it, it was Dot who had suddenly changed her expression that day and spoken so viciously.
I… was so flustered back then that I chose to forget Dot’s rude behavior. Because I thought she was my closest friend.
Dot’s obsession did not end there. Before Morgana could even settle into the ducal residence, Dot sent letter after letter, desperately begging to be invited.
If only she had not granted that request.
None of this would have happened…
Thus, Dot entered the Klein ducal residence. While acting affectionately toward the duke and duchess, she displayed far more polished manners than Morgana.
It was not because Morgana had studied etiquette less diligently, but because she had been too busy learning natural sciences and all manner of other knowledge, leaving no time even for sleep.
Wait—had she said something about eliminating family?
Dot… had a family? She must have been from a noble house after all. While I was learning everything from scratch after losing my memories, she already knew it. That’s why she seemed more natural than me!
One day, while Morgana was deeply immersed in her studies, the duchess casually remarked that Dotricia carried herself gracefully and lovably, as if born into nobility.
As Morgana recalled events from the past that had not yet occurred in this timeline, pain washed over her.
More than the atrocities committed by the friend she had trusted, she resented her family for failing to recognize her as their real daughter until the very end.
I hate this!
The fact that they had not known was no excuse for what they had done.
Were they not the ones who had brought her in for their own needs, only to shake the precarious branch she clung to from below?
The bitter wounds inflicted by her real family seemed to rise on her skin one by one, and belated resentment surged forth.
Morgana’s life as an Eina had not been easy.
While digesting an overwhelming amount of study material, she had to attend tea parties and small gatherings at least once or twice a week without fail.
She had even visited the imperial palace countless times. Dealing with the people she met there was extremely demanding and difficult.
Of course, the ones who made her suffer the most were the people of the Klein ducal residence.
Why… after taking me in and raising me for two years, did you never once pat my head affectionately? Why did you never praise even a single one of my achievements?
Even if they had not known she was their real daughter, if they had felt even a shred of pity for a child, she would not have harbored such resentment.
If only they had asked even once what had happened to me as a child that led to me growing up in a monastery, or whether there was anything they could do to help.
It was not only the duchess who had been cold at the Klein residence. The duke, who had been focused solely on using Morgana after bringing her in, had also been favorable toward Dot.
There was one more source of anxiety.
Besides the eldest son Cassel, who had been absent for two years, there was the second son, Morris Klein.
He, too, constantly compared Dot and Morgana whenever he had the chance, even hinting that it might be better to send one of them away soon. Quite often. While exchanging meaningful glances with Dot.
Would he ever know how desperately that had made Morgana’s small heart ache?
She alone had barely met the standards the family expected of an Eina. Why had she been forced to share the fruits of her solitary efforts with Dot?
I…!
I hate this. I hate it so much.
Clutching her head with both hands, Morgana quietly rose to her feet.
No matter how painful it was, as long as she could breathe normally and open her eyes, she could not remain dazed.
If she had truly returned to the past, she had to find a way to escape Dot’s clutches.
This was not Grace Monastery but a training facility a short distance away.
Recalling her memories, she had come here with Priestess Cheryl, daughter of Abbess Beryl, to harvest summer strawberries and early green grapes.
Dot hated such menial tasks and preferred talking with people, so she had not followed.
It was fortunate, at least, that she did not have to see Dot pretending to be innocent right after returning two years into the past.
At that thought, Morgana suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
Now that she thought about it—when was it?
A sudden fire and collapse had occurred at the monastery, injuring and even killing many nuns and children.
It had happened only a few months before she returned to the past.
And at that time… she had heard that Abbess Beryl and Priestess Cheryl had passed away together.
Morgana had wanted to run to the monastery in tears, but she could not.
Back then, there had been rumors that Crown Prince Silas, who had been in seclusion for a long time, would finally attend a debutante ball. The duke had pressured her to attend no matter what.
As for the monastery’s misfortune, he had said he would send people to handle it properly…
In the end, she had never been able to see the two of them one last time.